Manufacture of sheet glass



March l5, 1960 A. s. cRANDoN, JR

MANUFACTURE oF SHEET GLASS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 8, 1957 INVENTOR. Albert 5. Cr ndon Jr.

Arron/vers March 15, 1960 `A. s. cRANnoN, JR

MANUFACTURE oF SHEET GLASS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 8, 1957 lag a', l

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2,928,213 MANUrAcrUnE on SHEET GLASS Albert S. Crandon, Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa., assigner to Ameri k can Window Glass Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corpo1 ration of Pennsylvania` g Application August 8, 1957, Serial No. 676,969 n lil Claims. n (Cl. 49-17)' .y

Aand to the annealing and coolingthereof as the sheet is substantially continuously-drawn fromV a molten bath of glass. More particularly, it relates to improvedv apparatus for controlling air circulation adjacent the `sheet whereby eddy currens and rising columns lof turbulent air are minimized in the immediate vicinity of the Ysheet being annealed and cooled. Y

,In the Fourcault process of manufacturing sheet glass, the molten glassin the pit is ycaused to ow or well up- It is passed between coolers within the 4drawing pit or chamber rand is' stretched and set-` and thereafter carried iupwardly through a vertically 'extending annealing and cooling lehr which houses part of the drawing mechanism. Adjacent the top of the lehr the continuously rising glasssheet is ,scored and cut into desired lengths. The zones through which the sheet successively passes are in atmospheric communication and theheat from vthe drawing pit and 4thatgiven oif bythe cooling' of theeglass as it movesV upwardly through the various kzones yproduces uncontrolled vcurrents of air which flow fromthe stretching ,and setting zone in the directionY of travelA of the sheet-fand, consequently,` currents of colder airand stray gases are inducted thereby causing turbulence and unequalized heat during stretching, setting, annealing andvcooling which results in nonuniform cooling of V2,928,213 'Patented Mer-...15? 19?.

which is injected at each of several levels and in a well blended fashion into the peripheral portions of circulation with concurrent ow so as to mix without leaving pronounced hot or cold streaks. The result is a fairlyhigh but equalized 'temperature condition in the gas surrounding the sheet with' a consequently stable atmospheric pressure and equalized transfer of heat from' the glass i "to that gas. I am thus'able to reduce and spread out they initial permanent strain as they glass ksets and can: accordingly provide improved annealing and cooling andE relatively fast drawing speeds without excessive breakagein the machine or attendant breakage of the .sheets in i the` storage rack. Y. y

MoreY specifically, vI provideV in the oppositeends of each' zone and disposed so astoiexte'ndl transversely fromone of theeside walls t'o the other/one, a pair of rreturn bendvmembers consisting of U-shaped lengths of sheet metal pipe Qrin another example, generallytserni-cylinK14 drical shapes of metal plateiand in the pipes I provide a self-contained kair impeller adjacent the return bend therein which draws a current of air through one leg of the U-shape and kimpinges that air through the otherleg to steadily contact the adjacent `face vof the sheet.. The endof each plate or leg terminates alongside the adjacentl side wall at a point substantially transversely aligned withbut laterally oifset-fromthe adjacent edge: ofthe'sheet, at that side. i 'f J From Vtheir positions located within the return bend members atopposite ends of each zone as indicatedgI" cause rotation Yof the air impellers, fanning .the air to make the ,return bend members operate in ktandem in 1 forcing circulation through; each' zonefand I eifectively the glass. Similar diticulties are encountered in other .Y

drawing processes in which the sheet is drawn vertically from the bath of molten glass and thenpasses through a horizontally extending lehr. .y f l Y In accordance with a known manufacturing practice, cross currentsof forced air are provided to interrupttle foregoing chimney effect, `but where any substantial amount of the gas being transversely'circulated 4.is not carriedfrom one edge of the .sheet being drawnto at least the other edge and where it instead passesvertically along theV sheet, there is a substantial tendency for it to rise withl lthe sheet and create heat waves leading to dis?A tortion in the finished product. The air currents orfheat waves themselves are also conducive to instability of air pressure in the direction of the widthofthe 'sheet and, therefore, secondary eddy currents or turbulence' ally opposite directions from standpoint of the opposite,

faces of the rising s heetwso `as to constantly recirculate air in a path closing onfitself.@I also provide means to augment the ambient by introducing cooling Iairy tion` around and in continuous insulatethe drive means necessary :for those impellersby locating impellerdrive motors `remote to theY lehr `and by providing along drive shaft connection leading there from to the different `impellers and thus avoid exposure of the motors to direct conductance `of therlehr heat. Thevr injected air is carried in parallel headers which .lfv provide, and which is delivered. thereby from a line of spacedY nozzles having right angled bends therein for discharging in the proper direction. i: f

It is highly desirable to maintain uniformity ,off cooling and this' cooling may be readily obtained by-the :appa;. ratus abovedescribed.- The reffect of injecting cooling air -isv to reducefto the proper temperature the surrounding: v

gaseous` medium `which-is in constantV transverse circulai l Ycontact -with thenrising glasssheet. This circulationtends to lequalize as well as reduce-'temperature conditionsv across the sheet and, in what is probably of greater importance, itmaterially smooths the temperature curve'zacross the'sheet in'each of the rspectivezones and removes` any irregularities therefrom. f l :Further features, objects and advantages ,will .either be specifically pointed out or become apparent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction withqthe accom# my invention. In the drawings: Y1 Figure 1 is a vertical sectional viewthrough thetank' kvd lehrof fa glass drawing apparatusembodying my' inventionpv y j f., i

Figure`2 is asectional viewl taken alonggthev lines III-II of Figurel `with the'showing of Figure"3-removed; f

panyingdrwings which showfpreferred embodiments of Figuregis a section taken alongl the lines IIIIIIof Figure 1,'-with the showingl of VFigure Zremoved,l for clarity?" l' i Figure 4 is a moditication of the embodiment of Fig-;

nre 2, the showing of Figure 3 likewise being omitted from Figure 4; and, d f .j

Figure 5 is a further modification. Y Y In the drawings molten-glass in a bath B is fed front,

a. canal toa drawing chamber or pit 12, the drawing pit being separated from the canal by means of a bridge Wall 13. A floating debiteuse block 14 has a longitudinallyextending drawing slot and is positioned and held partially submerged in the glass bath B by appropriate presser bars (not shown) which cooperate with the four corners of the block. Glass wells upwardly through 'the Aslot in the debiteuse block 14 and is initially started ver- -tically in the pit by means of a bait. The resulting glass sheet which is indicated at S is drawn upwardly through the drawing pit 12 between a pair of longitudinally ex# ferent levels, each consisting of a pair of glass carrying rolls 20 with the lehr being of suflicient length to permit v further cooling and annealing of the glass sheet being vdrawn to a point where it can be manually or otherwise It is desirable that there be no uncontrolled gaseous movement immediately adjacent the glass sheet in the drawing pit. I, therefore, prefer that the pit be kept as tightly closed as practicable during operations in order to materially reduce air infiltration and accommodate only controlled movement of the pit gases without appreciable dilution. Actual circulatory means, Vwhich is omitted from the drawings for the sake of clarity, may be provided in the pit. I also prefer that all doors, indi; cated at 22 in the drawing machine proper, remain closed at least up to above the eighth set of rolls 20.

Beginning at the level between the nose blocks 18 and the lowermost set of rolls 20 and continuing with each successive level or zone thereafter, I provide ducts and fans generally indicated at 26 and -each consisting of pairs 2S of members'having a common vertical line shaft 30 for driving the fans, the shaft being rotated by means of a common air motor 32. One memberY of each of the eight pairs is shown in Figure 1, being indicatedl l As more particularly shown in Figure 2, in which the members 28 conform to a ygeneral U-shape, they are.

located by pairs in'opposite ends of each zone of the lehr 19 and consists of coplanar return bend pipes having their legs in axial alignment. Two fan shafts42 are provided at each level or zione,l one being positioned at each end of the zone so as to extend transversely thereto:

and each shaft is set in a pair of coaxial bearings 44 so as to rotate a fcmr-bladedY air impeller 46 securedl thereto j between the bearings.

The fan shafts 42 are connected to the different vertical line shafts 3i) bymeans of appropriate bevel gearing. Eachlmember`28 carries Vbafiies 48 at the mouth of the discharge leg thereof andthe motors-32 are rotated in a direction toV cause enforced circulation conforming to yan oblong endless, plane closed figure in the counterclockwise direction around the glass f sheet as seen in Figure 2, the gas current emerging from the bales 48 -bein'g separated #from the opposite portion 4 of circulating air by means of the intervening sheet S which divides the lehr.

As shown in Figure 3, the riser 34 for the injected air is connected through a set of valves ti individual to each pair of headers 38 and thence by means of a T connection Si) which feeds into and forms an inner joint for a generally U-shaped supply conduit 52. The ends of the legs of the supply conduit ,52 are level and are connected through short vertical risers 54 to the headers 33 which extend horizontally in a verticallyV offset position. `Cooling air'from the headers 3S is discharged in the same direction of circulation as that produced by the impellers 46 by means of 90 injection nozzles 56 and 58 which disperse the' air inthe peripheral portions of the circulating current and in the plane thereof. Nine of the nozzles 56 are shown for illustrative purposes and also nine of the oppositely directed nozzles 58 are shown,

being arranged at a 'spacedline' of points coplanar'with the ai'r circulation so asto introduce the augmenting air in opposite directions with respect to the opposite faces of 'the sheet S. Thisl cooling gas not only-serves the primary purpose of reducing the temperature of the glass but creates a strong tendency to equalize the temperature conditions across the sheet. The equalizing effect seems to be due not merely to transverse flowv of the gaseous medium but also to a reduction in the natural stack eifect of the vertically extending lehr. The introduction of air or gas underpositive pressure changes ythe normal stack effect and also reduces to somel degree, if not-entirely, the Yinfiltration of stray currents of cold air. inthe embodiment shown in Figure 4, the return bend members 128 are U-shaped and are arranged 'in a man.

ner similar to those shown in Figure 2. They include bafiiles 48, but, in this example, the air motors 32'are connected through the vertical line shafts 30 to drive a pair of longitudinally extending fan shafts 142 which are offset both laterally and longitudinally from opposite sides of the sheet S. Thus the airv impellers 46 connected to those shafts have a plane of rotation perpendicular to the plane of the sheet S and are offset laterally therefrom so as to discharge directly'in the plane of the bales 48.

In the modification of Figure 5, the return bend members 228 consist of semi-cylindrical shapes ofV wide strip metal which turn the air so as to reverse it at the ends of the sheet S. Thus the sheet S at all pointsforms a t bisecting partition longitudinally separating the portions of the circulating air current and the circulation is createdv circulation means it will be seen that by promoting the equalization or uniformity of Vtemperature, transversely of the glass sheet across both sides thereof, equal transfer of heat from the glass to the surrounding atmosphere occurs, resulting in more uniform annealing and cooling.

The `'speed of the circulatory currents not only aids the heat transfer but also breaks up the unpredictable and variable convection currents which have heretofore un balanced the rate of heat transfer from'the glass sheet and have thus fostered unequal annealing and cooling;

. It is apparent that by providing control over the cooling air input at a plurality of` levels, the atmospheric temperatures and hence, relative glass temperatures are forced into the more desirable theoretical cooling curve for proper annealing and cooling. Faster drawing speeds can, therefore, be achieved as a result of the better annealing and cooling obtained. Y

` The speed of the air motors 32 relative to one another is ladjusted to insure a balanced load sharing relationship. between the return bend members 'as' they operate in" tandem'on the common current-vof air. .Thus-.my'system provides uniformly distributed air' pressure without unnecessary complications d ue to air valves, and without 'excessiverpre'ssure build-up on .eitherfside of 'thei'glass fsheet. .iIt falsoprovides equal transfert of heatfrom the glass to the surrounding atmosphere. lBy this statement, :Ido not v*mean to imply. that' the?ttemperaturezatyarious AlpointsLonflthe sheet .are .necessarilyrequaL :turesgof Vthe-'edges of the rising sheet imay besomewlat The: temperal ture curves lengthwise of the sheet are appreciably smoothed.

Variations within the spirit and scope of the invention described are equally comprehended by the foregoing description.

Iclaim:

1. Glass drawing apparatus with side and end Walls forming a setting and annealing chamber for use with a source of molten glass, comprising means including glass drawing rolls for substantially continuously drawing through said chamber a sheet of glass from said source, air return members occupying a common level in a zone through which the rising sheet passes and extending from one side wall to the other in a disposition one at each edge of the sheet being drawn for defining an air path turning around that edge, and a plurality of impellers rotatable in said zone to move a current of air owing in opposite directions across the faces of the sheet through the path defined so as to close on itself, said sheet forming an intervening partition cooperating with said side walls for physically dividing oppositely owing portions of the air current from one another at substantially all points in their path.V n

2. Glass drawing apparatus according to claim l wherein said air return members each comprises a U-shaped pipe open at both ends and shrouding one impeller, said sheet forming an intervening partition physically dividing the oppositely tiowing portions of air current from one another at all intervening points between the defined paths through said pipes.

3. Glass drawing apparatus with side and end walls forming a setting and annealing chamber for use with a source of molten glass, comprising means including glass drawing rolls for substantially continuously drawing through said chamber a sheet of glass from said source, air return members occupying a common level in a zone through which the rising sheet passes and extending from one side wall to the other in a disposition one at each edge of the sheet being drawn for defining an air path turning around that edge, a plurality of impellers rotatable in said zone to move a current of ambient air for owing in opposite directions across the faces of the sheet through a path defined so as to close on itself, and a plurality of air fed nozzles in said zone directed to inject cooling air into the ambient air current.

4. Glass drawing apparatus with side and end walls forming a setting and annealing chamber for use with a source of molten glass, comprising means including glass drawing rolls for substantially continuously drawing a sheet of glass from saidsource, air return members occupying a common level in a zone through which the rising sheet passes and extending from one side wall to the other in a disposition one at each edge of the sheet being drawn for defining an air path turning around that edge, said sheet in the direction of its width formp rentof Aair .endlessslynin opposite V4directions across the f'face of fthe sheetfandfihgrough fthe freturnpa`.thsll'in a .defined oblong V:circuit so as,to. closel on itself;

.f 5 ,'Glass drawing apparatus with .side f and tend ,walls r,5 forfrni-ng 5 a setting .and annealing chamber ffonuse y.with

.tsourceqf Amolten glass, comprising 4means @including j'glass drawing rllslfor; substantially continuouslyfdra'wf ng 'a' :sheetfglass from [fsaid source, airretur'nmernbers "ocupyingiacommon: level inl a"zone"throu'gh *whichtjhe 1.0 l'ri's`irlg""sheet'passesarld `"extendingfromrone" 'side wll to f 'theftherin Jadi'spo'sition onetat--each Ledge; fithejsheet being drawn for defining an air path turningy around that edge, said sheet in the direction of its width forming an intervening partition longitudinally bisecting said zone, and a pair of transversely aligned impellers in said zone and rotatable to move a current of air for flowing in opposite directions across the faces of the sheet through the paths defined so as to close on itself.

6. Glass drawing apparatus for use with a source of roll-drawn molten glass, comprising elongated means in which a'sheet of glass extends in being drawn from said source, said glass sheet adapted to be substantially continuously moved upwardly by the lrolls through different zones therein, return bend means individual to said zones Vand defining a transverse path' around the glass sheet at its opposite edges, means of circulation individual to said zones and each Voperable to direct air in opposite directions across opposite faces of said sheet and leading in a path through said return bend means and closing on itself in that zone, energy supplying means, and vertically extending means common to the means of circulation in said zones for effecting operation thereof and coupled to said energy supplying means.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein a mechanical fan system including pairs of companion impellers constitutes'said means of circulation, said vertically extending means comprising a line shaft common to one impellerV of each pair, and another line shaft common to the other impellers for rotating'the same to circulate the air in said zones, said energy supplying means comprising adjustable speed power means connected to rotate said shafts at speeds adjusted so that they share the load of circulation throughout said elongated means.

8. Glass drawing apparatus for use with a source of roll-drawn molten glass, comprising elongated means in which a sheet of glass extends in being drawn from said source, said glass sheet adapted to be substantially continuously moved upwardly therethrough by spaced sets of the drawing rolls, fans interposed at a plurality of the levels between successive sets of the drawing rolls to circulate air, power means common to a plurality of said fans to drive them in unison, and air path means formed in part by spaced return bend members and in part by an intervening portion of the sheet itself for conducting air from the fans at each level in a path closing on itself transversely about that portion of the sheet.

9. Glass drawing apparatus for use with a source of roll-drawn molten glass, comprising elongated means in which a sheet of glass extends in being drawn from said source, said glass sheet adapted to be substantially continuously moved upwardly therethrough by spaced sets of the drawing rolls, fans interposed at a plurality of the levels between successive sets of the drawing rolls to circulate air, power means common to a plurality of said fans to drive them in unison, and air path means formed in part by spaced return bend members shrouding the fans and in part by the sheet itself for conducting air at each level in a path closing on itself transversely about the sheet.

l0. Glass drawing apparatus for use with a source of roll-drawn molten glass, comprising elongated means in which a sheet of glass extends in being drawn from said source, said glass sheet adapted to be substantially continuously moved upwardly therethrough by spaced sets of the drawing rolls, means including returnbend mem bers and sets of bafes cooperating to direct airtin paths at individual levels between the successive sets of rolls with each path conforming to and closing on itself in a 5 direction across the Width of the sheet of glass being drawn, fan shafts adjacent the bales at each level and extending in a direction parallel to but offset from the plane of the sheet, and fans connected to different ones of said fan shafts to discharge in the plane of an adjacent 10 set of baes.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Fox etY al.'l Apr. 30, Bishop May 10, Amsler May 16, Rolland et al. June 23, Weller Ian. 4, Halbach et al. Aug. 22,

FOREIGN PATENTS Australia Oct. 15, 

